Last exhibition of my collaboration with sailor and storyteller Ian Stephen exploring storytelling and stories of the sea in the Hebrides. This show has become a chart, tracing a route from Brittany to Iceland. There is also a wide detour to Denmark and on to the Finnish Islands to continue the creative links set in place between an Lanntair and their Baltic partners. Islands closer to the Centre’s home are also studied in depth – particularly the St Kilda group, 40 miles west of the Hebrides and the Shiants, 18 miles south of Stornoway. There are also evocations of journeys to neighbouring Island groups and Orkney and Shetland are featured.
A core element of the show examines a proposition I made to compare the roles of the storyteller and the artist to the characters in the legend of Echo and Narcissus. A storyteller is, like Echo, restricted in that he can only repeat what he has heard but not initiate. And the artist, like Narcissus is also restricted because he is bound to filter all perceptions through his own consciousness.